What is Proteomics?
About Proteomics is a large-scale study of proteins and their accompanying structures and functions (1) such as theirprotein levels, variations, and interaction patterns. A proteome refers to all of the proteins produced by an organism or cell at a certain time (2). Unlike the genome, the proteome is constantly altered in response to both intra and extracellular signals. It varies with the health of the host, the condition of each tissue, the different stages of cell development, and treatment responses (3). Studying proteomics allows us to further understand cellular processes, especially when it comes to certain diseases such as cancer. Clinical proteomics applies these proteomic technologies in a clinical setting, often to identify unique biomarkers labeling abnormal processes, diagnoses, and potential treatment options when dealing with diseases like cancer (2). Applications Proteomics plays an important role in drug discovery, diagnostics, and molecular medicine as it is a link between genes, proteins and disease. Being able to identify the defective proteins that lead to disease allows us to create more effective and sometimes safer treatment methods. This is most often through protein shape altering or mimicking of missing proteins. Through proteomics, scientists have been able to develop more personalized treatments for patients, tending to the specific deficiencies in their genes. Specific applications of proteomics include (but are not limited to): *Tumor metastasis *Renal disease diagnosis *Neurology *Urological cancer research *Antibody profiling for study and and treatment of disease *Nutrition research *Fetal and maternal medicine *Diabetes research (4) Tools Used in (Cancer) Proteomics Mass Spectometry Mass spectometry allows scientists to identify and count the proteins in a biological environment. This method allows for the differentiation of protein compositions that may vary by even a single atom. Although this method can not yet sepatate complex proteins from unprocessed specimens, other technologies such as affinity capture or protein and organelle fractionation allow for a reduced protein complexity within the specimens by searching for specific proteins of interest as well as improving the detection sensitivity of the instruments used (2). Protein Microarrays Protein microarrays are used to capture and measure many proteins from a specimen at once. They are typically made of a small piece of plastic or glass that is coated with thousands of molecules that can "grab" specific proteins, known as capture reagents. This allows scientists to isolate biomarkers for analysis. Protein microarrays can contain tens of thousands of capture features, each for a different protein, meaning they are efficient in that they can test for many different biomarkers simultaneously (2). Nanotechnologies Nanotechnology is defined as the creation or manipulation of matter on an atomic or molecular scale sized between 1 and 100 nanometers. Nanotechnology expands the capabilities of proteomics, allowing for selecting a target protein in vivo through barriers, detecting low abundance targets, and translation of protein biomarkers to therapeutic and diagnostic tests. Some nanodevices include nanoparticles used for delivery of cancer drugs to certain targets, heat-based and radiation-based therapeutics, and reagents used in imaging contrast (2). Bioinformatics Bioinformatics is an umbrella term for many procedures such as data modeling, functionality, comparability, database design, analysis of gene expression, strucutral prediction, vocabularies, and modeling for systems biology. Overall, it is an integrative analysis of all genomic and proteomic data that is useful in translation of scientific data to clinical practice (2). Biospecimens Biospecimens are samples from the human body used for measurement of genetic and protein expression and the resulting association with health status and disease pathways including tumor growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and more. It is very heavily relied on in cancer research (2). Reagents Reagents are crucial in improving the specificity and reproducibility of different proteomic technologies. One common reagent is an antibody, naturally requiring high-antigen specificity. This is useful in capturing and detection within proteomics. These reagents can be useful for many applications in cancer research. These include reporter molecules which detect targets in a particular sample, capture molecules that purify the target in a sample, studies which validate the effect of potential therapeutic targets, and reference materials used to calibrate instruments or compare different platform technologies (2). References 1. Wikipedia. "Proteomics". 2014. 2. National Cancer Institute. "What is cancer proteomics?" 3. American Medical Association. "Proteomics". 2014. 4. St. George's University. Proteomics diagram.